More than 1,000 children are waiting for psychiatric assessments for more than a year, despite evidence that delays in treatment can leave young people at a much higher risk of becoming chronically unwell, official figures show.
Health authorities completed a review in December 2007, which found there were 3,598 children waiting for psychiatric assessments, up 14 per cent on 2006.
While there has been anecdotal evidence of children waiting more than a year for assessments, these figures show for the first time the scale of the number of children waiting long periods of time for vital intervention. The HSE's review found 70 per cent of all children were waiting up to a year for treatment. Around 30 per cent of this group had waiting times of less than 13 weeks.
A HSE spokesman said that children referred by a GP were prioritised and seen immediately by consultant child psychiatrists where it was necessary.
Children in need of mental health assessments may suffer from a range of conditions, such as emotional and behavioural problems or learning difficulties. Dr Siobhán Barry of the Irish Psychiatric Association said delays in assessments and treatment can have a profound effect on children in need of support.
"The problem is that what can start out as something relatively trivial can develop into something much more serious if there isn't timely intervention," she said. "For example, a child with speech and languages difficulties can quite quickly develop serious behavioural problems if they can't express themselves properly." The association also says that health authorities may be vulnerable to legal actions from parents and children, given the HSE's obligation to provide adequate services to children under the 1991 Childcare Act.
The HSE figures come just days after the mother of a 16- year-old girl who is suicidal appealed to health authorities to provide an in-patient psychiatric bed for her daughter. She said last week that her daughter, who is in Wexford General Hospital, wanted to take her own life.
The HSE said it was in the process of trying to find a bed for her in a private facility. In the meantime, it said significant progress was being made in increasing the number of child and adolescent beds.
It estimates the total number of beds will increase from 12 to 30 shortly. Construction is also due to begin shortly on two new 20-bed units for children and adolescents in Cork and Galway.
In addition, the HSE says its service plan for this year prioritises child and adolescent psychiatry. It plans to provide eight additional consultant child psychiatry teams, which will "significantly reduce waiting times for psychiatric assessment for children".
However, social workers in this area say the HSE's recruitment embargo and lack of resources for community mental health teams is continuing to negatively affect children and their families. Declan Coogan, a spokesman for the Irish Association of Social Workers, called on the Government and the HSE to lift employment controls on the recruitment of frontline staff and to immediately implement its policy document for mental health services, A Vision for Change.
"It is not acceptable to social workers in child and adolescent mental health services that many children and young people wait for a year or more to be seen for assessment at their local mental health service," he said.
He gave examples of three children, ranging in age from eight to 16 years, who were in urgent need of proper intervention, but were unable to access support. They include "Tom", who is eight years old and has serious emotional and behavioural problems at home and school. He has been on a waiting list for services for the last two years. During this time his behaviour has become so difficult that he has reduced hours at school and his family are under considerable stress.